I'm in grad school, and I've been using the Plantronics DSP-400 with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 9.5 for about a year. the headset was okay, but my accuracy rate was nowhere near 99%, probably closer to 85-90%. (I rarely get through a sentence without making a correction) it saved my life when I couldn't type anymore, but it is very frustrating. Because writing and editing papers is all I do, I need whatever will give me maximum accuracy/speed. I'll find the money somehow.

my problem is I can't figure out what the best/most accurate headset is.

KnowBrainer says the absolute best is the Samson Airline 77 followed by several other wireless headsets. Link however, the Nuance website ranks microphones on accuracy, and none of the wireless microphones they tested came close to the USB mic's. Link also, I've read that Bluetooth/wireless is unable to compete with fully wired options.

eMicrophones shows theBoom Earhook and the modified Sennheiser ME3 as their best, but they are also the only site that I've seen to put such faith in desktop microphones. https://www.emicrophones.com/comparisons.asp

Finally, Nuance lists only 10 microphones, all wired headsets, that score a six on the Dragon accuracy score.
Audio 310 Plantronics
DSP 300 USB Plantronics
DSP 400 USB Plantronics
DSP 500 Plantronics
GN 503USB GN Netcom
HSGEN1 - Retail Bundle Vansonic
NC-91 Andrea Electronics
NC-91 + USB Adapter Andrea Electronics
NC-95 Andrea Electronics
P2000 Plantronics
Link

usually when I buy products, I find some general consensus on what particular model, brand, or least what type(i.e. wired vs. wireless) is best, but here, I can't figure out anything. I prefer headsets, as they don't require me to hunch over a desktop microphone, and I don't mind being tethered. I'm not a big fan of ear hooks, as they fall off and feel uncomfortable on my elf ears :-) however, what I need is the fastest, most accurate microphone available that will led me just talk, instead of having to correct mistakes in every single sentence. Any advice? many thanks in advance for your help!

 

[the accuracy problems are not entirely the microphone's fault. I probably don't enunciate as well as I should, but it does not understand me even when I speak slowly. Also, I'm running Windows XP on a ThinkPad t42 with a 1.8Ghz Pentium M and 1.5 gigs of RAM. I'm upgrading to a new Dell Core2 Duo E8500 soon(3.16GHz/4 gigs DDR 2-800 MHz/stock internal sound card/Vista). oh, and the school is giving me DNS legal 9, better for me, next year.]

                                       Welcome to the KnowBrainer Forums

UmeVoice makes several high-quality wired microphones. We suspect the main reason why some web sites only offer the theBoom “V4” (earhook) is because of the profit margins. The lower-priced theBoom “O” and theBoom “C” microphones feature the same microphone element but have notably slimmer profit margins. The other 2 microphone models are also considerably easy to slip on and off. The V4 microphone won't fall off on its own but it does take several seconds to secure it into place.

We recommend that you completely ignore the Nuance recommendations as they have no test facilities and you pretty much have to take their recommendations with a grain of salt. For example: They give the Andrea Electronics NC-91 microphone their highest rating while the manufacture of that microphone gives it their lowest rating. We suspect the Nuance rating comes from the fact that they include this microphone with their professional line of NaturallySpeaking software which pretty much brings their entire rating system into question and might also explain the difference between their ratings and ours.

You won't find any Plantronics DSP microphones on our recommendation list because they simply didn't make the cut but they are probably the best over-the-counter consumer microphones that you'll find. The accuracy is fair but the noise cancellation and comfort fell a bit below our preferences. You might want to additionally keep in mind that we offer a customer satisfaction 30 day no restock fee warranty so there is little financial risk.

HOWEVER, current sound system should be yielding better accuracy so our 1st recommendation would be to rerun the Audio Setup Wizard and press the Play button in the last page of the wizard to see if you're suffering from interference.

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Asking for information about the best microphone is rather like asking "which novel should I read".  There is a reasonable consensus about the worst and most readers can produce a list of the top few but there is unlikely to be an absolute consensus about the VERY best.

You make a very important point at the end of your post.  The user makes the greatest contribution to accuracy by enunciating clearly (not necessarily slowly) and speaking in sentences or at least phrases with appropriate context.  Some 70% of the transcription accuracy is down to the users dictation style and the very best microphone is not going to compensate for bad style.

I totally agree with KnowBrainer concerning the Plantronics DSP range.  They are reasonably accurate but are not really noise reducing and are generally uncomfortable and flimsy.  We have also found that they are not particularly "kind" to some female voices.

Again the Andrea NC range are not particularly accurate or noise cancelling. 

A step above the Plantronics DSP and Andrea NC are the VXi TalkPro headsets.  These are accurate and suitable for moderate noise environments.  They are also robust and come with a two year warranty.  VXi also produce a Bluetooth headset (BlueParrott) using the same microphone element as the wired headsets.  Here I take issue with KnowBrainer - in my experience the BlueParrott is as accurate as the wired version as long as the computers Bluetooth stack is suitable for speech recognition.  The limiting factor is the Bluetooth implementation - there is, for example, no problem in obtaining 99% accuracy with the BlueParrott B150 on Toshiba notebooks or with the B1000 that uses its own Bluetooth in the base station.  Some people do find the TalkPro headset rather heavy.

There is a broad consensus (excluding Nuance) about the most accurate microphones although the individual users favourite may be determined by factors like comfort (a very personal feeling) and location.  With the "top end" microphones the accuracy gain is only fractions of 1% above 99%.

My own personal favourite is the modified Sennheiser ME3-N together with the Buddy USB 6G pod.  The combination is very accurate, highly noise reducing, comfortable and very robust.  Ideal for use in all sorts of environments when demonstrating Dragon (and writing manuals and academic papers).  Some of part of my choice is that I hate having my ears covered by standard headsets.

theBoom headsets are equally accurate but, like you, I cannot stand "earhooks" so for me theBoom V4 is not a contender.  For someone spending hours dictating in airport lounges the V4 might be a very good choice.

The Revolabs xTag is, on our testing, a little more accurate than the Sennheiser or theBoom  range with the advantage of being a wireless lapel microphone.  It is however only suitable for use in a quiet (single occupant) room.  It also uses a small "base station" and is hence a little less portable for some users.

Finally there is the Samson Airline 77.  This is more accurate than any of the above (but only by a fraction of a percent).  Some users find the headset comfortable but others don't.  The mains powered transmitter/receiver means that it isn't portable.

After this list you are probably feeling even more frustrated however if you look at the top choices of microphone from KnowBrainer, eMicrophones, speechrecsolutions, and ourselves you will see that there is a broad consensus.  You wouldn't go wrong with any of the recommendations from these sites in terms of accuracy/reliability.  Comfort in use is more difficult and personal.

Good luck in your hunt.

 

Graham

 

 

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www.itspeaking.co.uk

thanks for all your advice.  "Ignore Nuance"  definitely helps clear things up for me.I'm glad that I found this forum. I was about to buy a Andrea 7100 before I saw the reviews on this site!  I've decided to order a hybrid airline 77 (with the free microphone and the half duplex USB pod) and theBoom C, from KnowBrainer ( I'm in the states, Graham), which should give me three microphones to try out before deciding which one(s) to keep.  got to love credit card grace periods and no restocking fees. theBoom C doesn't require a separate USB pod, does it? I'll keep you posted on my choices and shopping experience.  Thanks again.

All of the microphones that you mentioned are analog which means that in most cases, they will all work better with a USB soundcard; unless you have a good PCI sound card such as every model of Sound Blaster or Turtle Beach. In most situations we would recommend a USB soundcard with theBoom "C".

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So if I got the buddy 6G  combined with either the airline 77 or theBoom "C", I should have one of the most accurate microphone/soundcard setups that I can buy? as I understand from other postings, the important thing when it comes to soundcards is avoiding the internal onboard sound card. so, even though the new Andrea's PureAudio™ USB-SA has slightly less noise than the buddy, switching to the Andrea wouldn't provide any, even hypothetical, boost in accuracy. (I think the buddy6G would work better for my desktop setup because of the flexible cord)

I own three different models of theBoom, the Samson Airline and the Sennheiser BW900. I have used them all with DNS (as well as others). All are excellent. The Airline is a little better than theBoom in a noisy environment but I would recommend theBoom C for comfort and general usability.

Unless you are very disciplined with your dictation, I doubt that any other microphone would give you any measurable improvement in accuracy and even then the difference would be minimal.

phil 

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DNS12 Pro BM V Large Vocabulary plus KB or Voice Computer running Win7 64 bit machines with i7-2640M to i7-3960x and i7-3770K processors plus a Sony VAIO Windows 8 machine. DBX Audio Gate with Allen&Heath mixer/USB Audio; Andrea PureAudio USB  usually with Airline 77 or Audio-Technica but also Sennheiser MD431 II, theBoom, et. al.

We agree with your choice of the Buddy USB Pod external USB soundcard. However, from a speech recognition accuracy point of view, there is no difference between any of the USB soundcards and for use with the Hybrid Samson Airline 77 wireless microphone you would be no worse off with the Andrea half duplex USB Pod which would save you $10. USB soundcards are like cats, we've never met one we didn't like

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If I was you, I would only get the Buddy 6G if I was able to try it out first.

I had the chance to test the Buddy 6G a couple of weeks ago together with my microphone Sennheiser MD 431 II (which is not a headset but I hold it in my hand). 

On my five years old Toshiba notebook with Windows XP professional and Dragon 9.1 legal the combination with the Buddy 6G and my microphone was by far not as good as the combination of my microphone together with the MobilePre USB from M-Audio which I have used some years already.

On my desktop computer with Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) the combination of the Buddy 6G and the Sennheiser MD 431 II was not as good as the combination of the installed Creative Lab Soundblaster Audigy soundcard with the microphone.

For my hardware the Buddy 6G was no improvement at all.  It might be different with other systems and other combinations, especially other microphones.  In your place I would still only buy it if I was able to try it out first.

Hamburger

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http://www.rechtsanwalt-rossbach.de  

-

Dragon legal 11.0 (German version); Windows 7 Ult. 64 Bit; 4 GB RAM; Intel Quad Core; Creative Lab Soundblaster Audigy; Sennheiser MD 431 II; 

Although we are not set up for end-users to try out our equipment before purchasing, we do offer a 30 day no restock fee customer satisfaction moneyback guarantee on everything on our website to at least remove the financial ri$k.

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I have to agree with Hamburger.  My Buddy 6G sits on a shelf in my cupboard - unused - because it  definitely did not work with my Sennheiser MD 431 II microphone!!   I went back to my old Andrea USB pod.

        "For my hardware the Buddy 6G was no improvement at all.  It might be different with other systems and other
         combinations, especially other microphones."    DITTO!!!

I was just too lazy to send it back........ 

       Dana

 

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Dana Joan - Vero Beach, FL  - 

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical, Version 10.1; General Medical Large Vocabulary; Windows 7 Ultimate (on desktop); Windows XP Professional SR 3 (on laptop) and Sennheiser MD 431 II mic with the Andrea USB pod on both computers; LAPTOP: HP Compaq 8710p; Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00 GHz 2.00 GHz; 2.00 GB RAM; DESKTOP: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.66 GHz 2.67 GHz; 2.00 GB RAM.

Hello again everybody,

So after trying out the Airline 77, the Know Brainer headset, and the theBoom C headsets, I can confirm that everyone was correct when they referred to my old Plantronics DSP 400 as a toy.  I was getting more accurate recognition from all of these headsets right out of the box (after general training and five minutes of use) than I'd gotten from the Plantronics after months of use.

If you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for anything other than... well if you use it with any regularity, buy a good microphone!  A faster computer will do faster recognition, but a higher quality microphone will give you far better accuracy.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to return the microphones.  I either have an oddly shaped head, or overly sensitive ears.  Say what you want about about the DSP-400's accuracy, it was quite comfortable.  The Airline and the Sennheiser knockoff made my ears hurt, and the theBoom just wouldn't sit right on my head.  You guys are quite right.  It's not just about accuracy.  If you're going to be wearing a headset for hours every day, it has to feel right.  Thank God for the no restocking fee policy.

I'm going to keep on looking, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Revolabs xTag mic: 

Accuracy: 9.5 out of 10
Comfort: 10 out of 10
Noise Cancelation: 5 out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10

Why don't you try the Solo xTag lapel mic?? It doesn't even touch your head - it clips to your shirt or hangs on a lanyard around your neck. Accuracy is excellent (as per postings on this forum) if you dictate in a quiet environment.

I agree with your comments about the Airline.....I loved the accuracy - but after 1-2 hours of wearing it, I had a roaring headache!

Dana

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Dana Joan - Vero Beach, FL  - 

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical, Version 10.1; General Medical Large Vocabulary; Windows 7 Ultimate (on desktop); Windows XP Professional SR 3 (on laptop) and Sennheiser MD 431 II mic with the Andrea USB pod on both computers; LAPTOP: HP Compaq 8710p; Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00 GHz 2.00 GHz; 2.00 GB RAM; DESKTOP: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.66 GHz 2.67 GHz; 2.00 GB RAM.

If you need noise canceling and can't use a lapel mic try theBoomO. It is more comfortable than theBoomC on larger heads.

When I was using theBoomO as my primary DNS mic, I put a piece of foam on the end of the head band. As a comfort example (which I do not recommend anyone else try) I actually use the Airline77 de-constructed and mounted on a BoomO frame. (I had destroyed the Boom microphone by running it over with my chair).

Phil

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DNS12 Pro BM V Large Vocabulary plus KB or Voice Computer running Win7 64 bit machines with i7-2640M to i7-3960x and i7-3770K processors plus a Sony VAIO Windows 8 machine. DBX Audio Gate with Allen&Heath mixer/USB Audio; Andrea PureAudio USB  usually with Airline 77 or Audio-Technica but also Sennheiser MD431 II, theBoom, et. al.

Sorry, I am very new at this so please bear with me.

 I am just starting with DNS 9 Preferred, but I am looking for the best microphone that comes in an earhook version. Any recommendations? Obviously I am looking for the most accuracy, but with the comfort of an earhook.

 Or, are there any headsets that convert to earhook that anyone is aware of?

I started with the DNS hardware compatibility list as others in this string have done, but everything appears to be a headset. I saw theBoom and found the difference between the O and the v4. I spoke with someone at UMEVOICE and they really pushed the O. They said the v4 worked fine, but that it was not as accurate and that you really needed to be precise with location of the mic.

I need an earhook rather than a headset for comfort. Truth be told, ear hooks are not the best either, but with my big dome, I have trouble with headsets, hats, etc.

Again, any help and or suggestions are appreciated.

 

Hi jsobel,

Welcome to the community. It seems you place a high priority on comfort. Do it right the first time. Go for wireless.

Many good choices. I don't work for KnowBrainer, just a loyal customer. For earhook style check out the some of the KnowBrainer Hybrid units like the Plantronics CS55, CS70N, or Sennheiser BW900. There's also the CS50-USB.

I still own the KnowBrainer Hybrid CS55, and it's very nice as an earpiece and very accurate and noise cancelling. It can also function as with a headset attachement. I use to wear this thing 8-14 hours per day.

I now exclusively use the Revolabs xTag mainly for comfort. The thing is TINY. Most people say it's not good for "noisier" environments. I guess I don't have noise, but I've never had problems with the unit.

You can see some pics I have comparing how small the xTag is compared to the CS-55. Also see my Avatar for comparison pics.

Just CLICK HERE  .

I didn't really do a review, but just shared my experiences. There's also the desktop Buddy gooseneck available too. Many, many options for comfort. I would not recommend a wired unit if your priority is comfort AND accuracy.

Take your time and look at all the reviews here in this forum. There's many, many of them. Or you can save time and just look at the Microphone Comparison Matrix. The matrix does a good job of comparing everything so you can decide.

The microphone and USB sound pod are the only the first but very necessary steps to good recognition. Then you have to learn how to add vocabulary words and phrases, train them as needed in the Vocabular Editor, and properly correct words as part of contextual phrases while dictating.

The previous paragraph is going to be my mantra on this forum from now on because essentially that's what the most important issues of voice recognition accuracy. The other aspects of the forum have to do with Advanced Scripting and KnowBrainer commands, and just people learning, sharing, and helping others out.

All microphones have tradeoffs, at this time, regarding comfort, accuracy, and noise cancellation. Hopefully they can either make the Revolabs xTag more noise cancelling or make the Airline 77 more comfortable one day.

You're at the right place to make all this stuff work, given a bit of patience, money, and time.

Cheers.

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1111MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, or Mac Mini --> OS X Leopard --> VMware Fusion --> XP SP2 Home --> KnowBrainer 2007 Command Software, DNS 9.5 Preferred, Steelcase Leap Chair. Current: Revolabs xTag. Previous: KnowBrainer Hybrid Plantronics CS55.

                                     Welcome to the KnowBrainer Forums

The microphone element is the same in the entire Boom line of microphones which means that the theBoom “V4” (ear hook) is identical to theBoom “O”. We suspect that you were speaking with the Jane at UmeVoice and we believe the reason that she mentioned the accuracy issue is because whenever you put on a traditional headset microphone it tends to drop back into its original position on its own but when you put on a bendable headset, such as the V4, the microphone could easily be out of position by as much as 3 inches. All this means is that you need to take an extra second to properly position your microphone in the sweet spot which you'll get used to doing very quickly by using your index finger and thumb. It really isn't a big deal and the V4 also works well on most cell phones and wireless LAN lines. We include both cell phone, PC cables and a 30 day customer satisfaction no restock fee guarantee.

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Great! Thank you both so much for your help and thoughtful comments. It is greatly appreciated!